Top 10 most (and least) diverse U.S. cities

The United States is undergoing a steady demographic transformation. The census estimates that by 2042 non-Hispanic whites will be outnumbered in the U.S.

And nowhere is that diversity playing out more than in the country's largest metropolitan areas, according to a new report from the US2010 Project at Brown University.

But it's not just a big city phenomenon. Since 1980, the report says, 90 percent of all cities, suburbs, and small towns have become more diverse. And while majority white communities are still common, places where whites are an overwhelming majority (90 percent or more) have decreased from two-thirds to one-third. Interestingly, the least racially diverse metro in the U.S. is 96 percent Hispanic.

The researchers determined that the most racially diverse places have populations with a 20 percent distribution of the five racial groups: white, black, Hispanic, Asian, and "other."

Based on that definition, here are the most diverse U.S. metros:

Vallejo, Calif.

San Francisco

Stockton, Calif.

Washington, D.C.

New York City

San Jose

Las Vegas

Houston

Los Angeles

Honolulu

And the least diverse metros:

Laredo, Texas

Parkersburg, W.Va.

Altoona, Pa.

Kingsport, Tenn.

Bangor, Maine

Wheeling, W.Va.

Glens Falls, N.Y.

Huntington, W.Va.

Johnstown, Pa.

Weirton, W.Va.

How will the increased diversity impact the U.S. in the coming years? The researchers put it like this:

Nationally, diversity is reshaping the contours of culture: our music, our theater, our arts, our cuisine. Locally, it is affecting economies, school systems, and political structures. Younger people who have grown up in diverse communities take this demographic profile as a given. But older whites who have watched the thirty-year increase find themselves having to adjust their notion of ‘America,’ sometimes reluctantly.

Thank You

By registering you become a member of the CBS Interactive family of sites and you have read and agree to the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Video Services Policy. You agree to receive updates, alerts and promotions from CBS and that CBS may share information about you with our marketing partners so that they may contact you by email or otherwise about their products or services.
You will also receive a complimentary subscription to the ZDNet's Tech Update Today and ZDNet Announcement newsletters. You may unsubscribe from these newsletters at any time.